Food for the soul…

Category Archives: Healthy

Kheema (mince) Akrod (walnuts) karanji (calzone) Ukdiche kheema Akrod Karanji is one of the most liked appetizer for parties at my place. One can eat this without guilt simply because I use minimal oil for making the stuffing and steam it instead of deep frying. So here is my take on this recipe.

Heat oil and sauté onions till translucent, add ginger garlic paste and the rest of the dry spices. Stir for a minute and add the mince. Season it with salt and stir on high flame. (The mince has water and fat content so do not add water) cover it and cook it for 15mins on low heat. Garnish with chopped coriander, walnuts and a dash of lemon.

For the cover, heat water in a pan and season it with salt and oil. Once it comes to a boil add rice flour. Mix well and cover it with the lid. Shut the heat and let it rest till it cools though not completely.

Stuffing and making the karanji-

Now knead the rice flour into a smooth dough and divide them into lemon size balls. Roll each ball into approximate 5 inches circle. Place the rolled rice flour dough in a karanji mould and fill a tabsp of mince walnuts fillings. Press the mould to seal the karanji. Place these karanji into a steamer and cook it further for 5 mins. Serve hot with mint or garlic chutney.

If you do not have a mould on can just twist and seal the rolled dough into semicircular to make it into a karanji form.

Shevayi is the most popular dessert after Ukdiche Modak in coastal Maharashtra. Simple rice noodles bathing in sweetened coconut milk is pure indulgence. My husband’s Nani’s house being in Alibaug… this is one of his favorite dessert. Hence cracked the recipe to Pamper my hubster.

Grate 1coconut, add 1/2cups of water, add the jaggery and blend it through. Sieve the milk by pressing the coconut mixture through the sieve. This is the first extract. Repeat the same process to get another extract. Keep it in the fridge.

Rice Noodles –

Boil 4cups of water, add ghee and season it with salt, bring it to a boil. Add the rice flour and mix it with a spatula. Cover it and keep it at rest for half an hour. After cooled knead the rice flour into a smooth dough. Make cylindrical shape and transfer into the noodles maker( the same Machine used for making shev/ chakli). Make small batches of thin rice noodles and place them in a steamer. Steam it for 5 mins.

OR

Another method of making noodles is after kneading the steamed rice flour into a dough, make small balls (lemon size). In a pot boil water and immerse the rice flour balls, boil it till it floats. Strain it. Then transfer into the Noodle maker and make thin noodles. Pour sweetened coconut milk over the noodles and serve.

Serving – place the noodles in a shallow bowl and pour the sweet coconut milk over it. Garnish with a pinch of cardamom powder.

With the upcoming ebook on the “Mithais of India” by the FBAI…I got inspired to post this recipe. My daughters favorite Mithai – Kaju Katli. It’s one of the easiest and quickest Mithai one can make at home. I avoid the market one simply because I am not a fan of the silver (so called) paper they garnish on the Mithai. Instead I just sprinkle the magic dust ( what I call ) that is the edible glitter which I use for cakes. So here is my take on Kaju Katli.

Make a very fine powder of cashew nuts. Make sure to pulse the grinder otherwise the cashews tend to clump up. Sieve the powder in a bowl. Now add the milk powder and cardamom powder ( we want a very subtle flavour so do not use too much of it). Mix well. The mixture becomes light and fluffy.

In a heavy bottom flat pan boil the water and sugar to make 2 strings syrup. Keep a close watch as we do not want raw or over heated syrup. Stop as soon as you see 2 strings between yours fingers when you test the consistency. Shut the heat. Now add the cashew mix powder and stir well. Leave it for half an hour in the hot pan. Transfer the mix of cashews and sugar on a thick food grade plastic sheet. And knead till it has no cracks. The dough should be smooth. Using a rolling pin and a top cover of plastic roll the Kaju dough in a rectangular shape. The thickness shouldn’t be too thin nor too thick. 1/2 a centimeter. Apply ghee and sprinkle the edible glitter. Leave it to set for a couple of hours. Cut into diamond shape.

When one says pasta…you quickly get the cheesy overload of pasta in your mind. Pasta can be healthy if we make it in the marinara sauce. Also by using the whole wheat instead of the Refined Flour one….the guilt is much less. A quick and super easy pasta, in which I cooked the whole wheat spaghetti in the sauce itself instead of boiling it separately and then draining off the water. This particular recipe is kids friendly, my 12 year old daughter does all by herself too. Reaction to this pasta after devouring it by my elder daughter, “This pasta is so much like the one I had in Italy!” (Happy to hear that) So..here is my take on healthy pasta in minutes.

Chop tomatoes roughly. Tear basil. Chop garlic. Heat oil in a broad deep pan and infuse it with garlic and basil. Stir for 2 mins and add tomatoes. Saute for 5 to 7 mind. Add puree and ketchup. Add approximately 750ml water. Let the marinara sauce cook fo few minutes. Season it will salt. Now break the spaghetti and add it to the marinara sauce. Stir a few time and make sure the spaghetti doesn’t stick to the bottom nor it over cooks. Remove it off the heat when it is almost cooked but not fully..al dente!

Time to serve….with a pair of tongs make the spagetti swirl on the plate, add the sauce over it, drizzle some parmesan cheese and a few drops of extra virgin olive oil.

Farcha is the Parsi style fried chicken. Sweetish, mild flavors of spices… the chicken is gently coated in egg and deep fried. Tender juicy chicken on the inside with a slight crunch of egg on the outside is just a heavenly feel. So..here is my take on Chicken Farcha.

In a heavy bottom pan (I use the AMC) marinate the chicken with the dry spices – turmeric, chilli, coriander, cumin, garam masala, chat masala, salt and sugar. Add the ginger garlic paste and ketchup. Coat the chicken and cook on low heat till tender but firm. Takes around 15 mins. If the chicken too watery, dry it on high heat for 3/4mins. Now add the cardamom and nutmeg powder. After it cools, cover it with bread crumbs or toast powder by patting it properly. Keep it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Heat oil in a wok on medium heat. In a mixing bowl beat the eggs and dip the chicken into the beaten eggs. Roll it in the egg bath and deep fry till golden.

Kulcha is a stuffed flat bread. The stuffing can be anything, vegetarian options like paneer, potatoes, cabbage the list is endless. The non vegetarian options can be mince, finely chopped chicken or even shredded tandoori. This is not roasted by flipping like the regular parartha, kulcha is roasted on the flame directly after being stuck on to the griddle. My take on this North Indian delicacy is I use clay griddle. The taste that the kulchas inherit is the beautiful, mild mud aroma, as though it is cooked in the clay tandoor. So here is the recipe.

Take a mixing bowl and add salt, sugar, curd and oil to the refined flour. Knead it into a firm but not very tight dough. Keep it for rest.

In the meantime prepare the stuffing. Grate paneer, potatoes. Add the coriander, chilli’s, red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt sugar, chat masala and crushed coriander. Divide into equal portions making lemon size balls. Take the dough and divide that too into small ball size balls. Roll a little with black sesame seeds, now place the stuffing on the rolled dough and bring the dough together covering the stuffing firmly. Roll with the help of a rolling pin and dust some maida (Refined flour) to make flat bread. Heat the clay griddle. Now apply some water on the rolled kulcha and Pat it on the water side on the hot grilled. Let it cook on one side for 2/3 mins. Now turn the griddle on the flame roasting the kulcha till it fluffs up into a beautiful golden color. Pat some butter and serve hot.

Neer (Water) Dosa simply means steamed rice crepes. Unlike the regular dosa, this one doesn’t need fermentation nor high in calories. It is a soft, satiny and melt in mouth delicacy of the Manglorean cuisine. Neer Dosa best goes with spicy prawns ghassi or pomfret curry (both recipe posted earlier on this blog). Vegetarians enjoy these with sambhar, kayras or chutney (again the recipes have been posted earlier). Here is my quick take on Neer Dosa.

Ingredients: (50 small dosas)

Rice 3cups, dessicated coconut 2cup. Salt to taste. Oil 2tabsp.

Method:

Wash the rice throughly and soak for 4/5 hours in water. While soaking the rice, add desiccated coconut. Grind the mixture into fine runny batter. Add oil and salt. Heat a non stick pan and pour in a ladle full of batter. Simply move the pan in circular motion for the batter to spread. On low heat cover it and let it cook for a minute. Serve hot with fish curry or kayras.